Export and transport: keeping track of transport

For the last fifty years, Europe has been trying to encourage the free circulation of people and goods by encouraging the departitioning of national territories and the reduction of regional imbalance. So in what respect has the passenger and goods sector changed? The European Conference of Transport Ministers (ECTM), an intergovernmental organisation created in Brussels on 17th October 1953, tries to reply to this question by publishing an annual study entitled the « Evolution of Transport ». The latest study, published at the beginning of the year, looks at the period 1970-2004 and is based on data received from 43 countries belonging to the ECTM. Activity in the sector is assessed using statistics established in passenger-kilometres and tons-kilometres.

Road before rail for goods
In Western Europe, goods are mainly transported by road, which accounts for 78.5% of the total tonnage of freight sent by rail, road and water. This predominance is traditional, since in 2004 the railways attained less than 50% of their 1970 modal share. Despite the virtual stagnation of industrial activity in Europe in 2004, the transport of goods by road reached a record level over the same period. All European countries (with Spain and Ireland in the lead), recorded an increase in road transport. It is evident that the growth of the European construction industry and the resulting increase in international trade is of direct benefit to hauliers. Rail, as well as road transport is also at a high level in Western Europe. Several networks recorded growth during 2004, including Norway, Britain and Portugal. Despite this, however, between 1970 and 2004, the ECTM study emphasises that the transport of goods by rail has virtually stagnated and is the weakest performer of all forms of overland freight transport.

Responsibility for this lack of development can be traced to the poor quality of rail services. Problems with insufficient infrastructure, since passenger trains take precedence over freight trains, and a lack of drivers and engines allowed the rail networks to cope with a level of freight activity that was only marginally higher than that recorded in1970. It is worth noting that the use of « free access » to the international corridors - seen as a solution to the sluggishness of rail networks imprisoned by national boundaries – has undoubtedly increased, but by a relatively slim percentage. Although hopes for growth in European transport are focused on international transport, the many obstacles to the interoperability of the rail networks in international freight transport are an indication of the size of the task that remains to be accomplished.

Car, coach, then train for passengers
The use of the railways for passenger transport has started to climb very slightly in western European countries (+1.5% in 2004) – an overall performance achieved mainly as a result of significant growth in the Norwegian, Belgian, French and British networks. In all, the volume of passenger-kilometres travelled on the rail networks of Western Europe in 2004 appears to have increased by more than 50% since 1970. This is rather less than passenger transport by bus or coach which has recorded growth of more than 58% compared to 1970. Unsurprisingly, it is transport by private car that has increased the most, multiplying by almost 2.6 its overall volume of activity.